Improvements in motor oil and car engines are combining to torpedo a popular car ownership mantra: the 3,000-mile oil change.

Ford Motor (F) is lengthening the recommended interval between oil changes for its 2008 models to 7,500 miles, up from 5,000 miles. Volkswagen just got done increasing its oil-change recommendations to 10,000 miles on its 2007 gasoline-powered models.

And Chrysler Group (DCX) no longer gives a recommendation. It is installing indicator lights starting in all its 2008 models that track driving habits and tell motorists when it's time for an oil change. Honda (HMC) and General Motors (GM), among others, already have similar systems.

Reduced need for oil changes and engine tuneups come as cars are lasting longer. The median age of cars last year was a record 9.2 years, up from 8.1 years in 1997, R.L. Polk reports. Owners also benefit from reduced maintenance costs for other items. Ford estimates owners can save up to $600 over five years.

Shell Lubricants, which owns the Quaker State and Pennzoil oil brands and operates the Jiffy Lube oil-change chain, long ago abandoned its corporatewide 3,000-mile oil-change message.

"Whatever the owner's manual recommends should be a starting point for service intervals on oil changes," says Jack McDonald, training development director for Pep Boys, a 593-unit auto-service chain in 36 states. But he says many drivers may fall under the shorter interval of the "severe driving schedule" for stop-and-go, hot weather or heavy-load driving. Oil change indicator lights are designed to take higher-demand driving into account. "It keeps track of how you drive," says Bob Lee, a Chrysler vice president.

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A car mechanic changes oil at a repair shop in Wheaton, Md. Oil changes are becoming less frequent as the efficiency of both lubricants and cars improves.

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